Structural Engineer resume example

• Entry level

  Structural engineer in training with a master's in structural engineering and an FE Civil pass. Designed steel and wood gravity framing for three mid-rise buildings under supervision, ran ETABS models for a concrete shear wall building, and reviewed 60 shop drawing submittals. Strong in ASCE 7 load development and ready to support building design and site observation.

• Mid level

  Licensed PE with seven years designing commercial, education and multifamily buildings in a high-seismic region. Designs steel moment frames, concrete shear walls and wood light-frame structures, runs ETABS and RAM models, and leads construction administration. Passed the SE vertical and lateral exams and is completing state licensure, with 25 buildings delivered from schematic design to occupancy.

• Senior

  Licensed SE and associate principal with sixteen years in building structures, including hospitals, schools and towers up to 30 stories. Leads a group of ten engineers, sets lateral system strategy with architects, and reviews peer and plan-check comments. Has led seismic retrofits of eight unreinforced masonry and nonductile concrete buildings and seals drawings in two states.

• Listing projects without your scope

  Fix: Ten hospital names in a row tell a principal where you worked, not what you designed. For each major project, give your piece: gravity framing for floors 3 to 12, the shear wall design, connection design, or the foundation package. Add the material and system so the reader sees the range of your hands-on design.

• Writing "familiar with ETABS"

  Fix: Structural managers want to know what models you built and checked. Say "built ETABS models for 3 concrete shear wall towers up to 14 stories, including response spectrum analysis" instead. Name the codes you checked against and whether a senior engineer reviewed the work, which is normal and honest.

• Skipping construction-phase work

  Fix: Shop drawing review, RFIs, site observation and repair details take up much of a structural engineer's year. Count them: submittals reviewed, site visits made, field fixes designed. Contractors and owners favor firms whose engineers answer questions fast and know how the steel and concrete actually go together.

• Mixing structural and general civil claims

  Fix: If you also did grading, drainage or site work, keep it to a short line. A structural reader wants framing systems, materials, loads and analysis, not stormwater permits. Separate the two clearly so your structural depth is not diluted, and save the civil detail for applications to civil roles.

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• Designed concrete shear walls and post-tensioned floors for a 14-story residential tower in Seismic Design Category D.
• Led the ASCE 41 retrofit of a 1920s unreinforced masonry school, adding steel braced frames while keeping 90% of the original facade.
• Built ETABS models for 6 steel moment frame buildings and cut steel tonnage 8% through drift-driven member resizing.
• Reviewed 240 steel and rebar shop drawing submittals on a hospital project with an average return of 6 working days.
• Designed a 5-story mass timber office with CLT floor panels and glulam frames, coordinating fire ratings with the architect.
• Answered 110 contractor RFIs on a parking structure, issuing 14 field repair details with no schedule delays.
• Wrote plan check responses for 9 permit sets, clearing each in no more than 2 review cycles.
• Designed components and cladding wind pressures for 20 coastal homes in a 150 mph design wind speed zone.
• Made 45 site observation visits on a steel frame lab building and logged connection deficiencies before deck pour.
• Mentored 5 EITs on lateral design; 4 have since passed the PE Civil exam with a structural depth.

• Lead with the building types they design

  A firm that does hospitals reads for healthcare work, a firm that does housing reads for wood podiums, and a retrofit firm reads for ASCE 41. Move matching projects to the top of each role, and use the posting's system names when they match yours. Keep unrelated project types brief. Tailor your structural engineering resume

• State your license path in the cover letter

  Principals plan around who can seal drawings. Say where you stand: EIT, PE in which states, SE components passed and when you expect licensure. Then describe one project like theirs with your scope and system. Close with the software and codes you share with the team, kept to one line. Write a structural engineer cover letter

• Prepare a hand calc and a model story

  Structural interviews often include a quick hand check, such as a beam size, a load path or a drift estimate, plus questions about a model you built. Bring a project where you can explain the lateral system, the governing load case and one design change you made after a review comment. Practice structural engineering interview questions

• Separate structural work from civil site work

  Many structural engineers start in general civil firms. If your early years mixed grading and drainage with structures, compare your page to the civil engineer example and make sure the structural design reads first. Move site work to one short line per role so the reader sees your framing and lateral experience. Compare with the civil engineer example